very other music, produces reverie, though only intended to
inspire joy. The Count d'Erfeuil arrived, quite enchanted at the sight
of a ball, which produced in him some recollections of France.--"I have
tried all I could," said he to Lord Nelville, "to discover something
interesting in these ruins of which they talk so much, and I can really
find no charm in them. It must be the effect of a very great prejudice
to admire those heaps of rubbish covered with thorns. I shall speak my
mind of them when I return to Paris, for it is time that this Italian
delusion should cease. There is not a monument now standing whole in any
part of Europe, that I would not sooner see than those old stumps of
pillars, those bas-reliefs, all black with time, which can only be
admired by dint of erudition. A pleasure which must be bought with so
much study, does not appear to me very lively in itself--to be charmed
with the sights of Paris, nobody need grow pale over books." Lord
Nelville made no reply.--The Count interrogated him afresh, as to the
impression that Rome produced on him. "In the midst of a ball," said
Oswald, "is not the most proper time for serious conversation on this
subject; and you know that I am incapable of any other."--"Well and
good:" replied the Count d'Erfeuil, "I am more gay than you I admit; but
who knows whether I am not also the more wise of the two? Believe me,
there is much philosophy in my apparent levity: it is the way we should
take life."--"You are perhaps in the right," answered Oswald, "but it is
from nature, and not from reflection, that you acquire that way of
thinking; and that is why your manner of taking life may only suit
yourself."

The Count d'Erfeuil heard the name of Corinne mentioned in the ball
room, and entered it to know what was going forward. Lord Nelville
advanced as far as the door, and beheld the Prince Amalfi, a Neapolitan
of the most handsome figure, who besought Corinne to dance with him the
_Tarantula_, a Neapolitan dance full of grace and originality. The
friends of Corinne besought her also to comply with his request. She
yielded to their desire without waiting to be asked frequently, which
astonished the Count d'Erfeuil, accustomed as he was to the refusals
with which it is customary to precede consenting to a request of this
nature. But in Italy, these kind of graces are unknown, and all believe
they please most in society by showing an eagerness to do what is asked
of them. Cor